He Sees You When You're Sleeping
by SnowyHeavens
Summary: Akashi, stop creeping on Kuroko. You're freaking him out.
1. In The Gymnasium

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kuroko no Basuke, the cover image, The Da Vinci Code, or Pachelbel's Canon in D Major.

* * *

School was over for the day, and Kuroko was heading towards the first string gym of Teikou Middle School. He was a bit late from talking to his teacher after class. Everybody else was most likely already in the gym and had finished changing.

Upon opening and entering the building, its double doors creaked as he swung it outwards and walked in. Instantly, Kuroko felt intense pressure radiating towards him. No one seemed to notice his presence, though, as they started their warm ups and never looked up.

He glanced around and found heterochromatic eyes at the other side of the court staring right back at him, its figure unmoving. Those eyes slowly traveled downwards, stopping at his shoes, and then followed its languid trail back up to the light bluenette's eyes.

Kuroko thought nothing of it and quickly made his way to the locker room to change, feeling a certain someone's eyes boring into his back. When he walked into the changing room, the pressure dissipated.

A few minutes later, and the phantom felt the same intense pressure as before once he stepped out of the changing area. Again, he looked around and spotted a certain redhead keeping his gaze right at Kuroko. He also noticed that the redhead had not moved from his spot at all.

It unnerved him how he kept staring with a blank expression at Kuroko. Not once did his gaze at the light bluenette waver as the captain slowly made a bee line towards the phantom, people and objects parting like the Red Sea.

As the redhead stopped a few feet in front of him, Kuroko waited until he spoke first.

"Tetsuya."

"Akashi-kun."

He stared silently at Kuroko for a few more moments before speaking.

"Why don't I help you stretch?" he suggested.

The shorter one paused before responding.

"Alright."

Without further words, Akashi turned and walked towards an empty space on the court, not checking to see if the other would follow. Once he had made it to where the taller of the two went, he nodded his head at the floor, signaling for Kuroko to go first.

He understood immediately and sat down in front of Akashi with his back facing him, spreading his legs on opposite sides of himself. The captain placed his hands flat on the shorter one's back and pushed slowly forward.

The light bluenette was busy stretching, extending his arms in front of himself, until he jolted in shock. Akashi had moved one of his hands upwards, tickling the back of small boy's neck with his fingers.

"Akashi-kun?"

"Hmm?"

"You're touching my neck," he blandly stated.

"My apologies."

He moved his hand back down to where the other had been, in the middle of his back. Kuroko started to stretch again, until Akashi's other hand moved. It traveled down his spine slowly, sending another jolt of surprise through Kuroko.

"Akashi-kun?"

"Yes?"

Your hand is on my butt," he bluntly remarked.

"Ah. My bad."

Again, the redhead moved his hand back up to where it had originally been.

After a few, thankfully uneventful, minutes, Kuroko was done and it was the other's turn to stretch. It seems like no one had noticed the redhead manhandling the poor little phantom. Akashi's warm-up went without any mishaps, unlike Kuroko's. Three more minutes passed and they were both done and ready to train.

Kuroko murmured a polite "thank you" with a short bow towards the redhead and quickly went to leave.

"Tetsuya."

The taller one spoke up before the other could take a single step away.

"Yes?"

"Shall I help you with your training?" he helpfully asked.

Not wanting to be "accidentally" molested again, Kuroko declined.

"No, thank you, Akashi-kun."

"Hmm."

And the captain left without another word. Not bothering to look where the redhead had went off to, Kuroko decided to forgo the training exercise and walked over to a basketball bin to pick up a ball. Once he was near the free-throw line, however, the light bluenette felt the same exact pressure from when he first entered the gym. Taking a subtle glance around the room, he saw Akashi, yet again, staring right back at him with a clipboard in hand, scribbling who-knows-what onto it. Trying to ignore the sudden uncomfortableness, Kuroko began to practice.

* * *

As each minute ticked by, the pressure increased immensely. Kuroko's aim was beginning to get worse, hitting the people around him right in the face.

"Gah! Kurokocchiiii!"

"Geez, Tetsu!"

"Ah. Sorry, Kise-kun and Aomine-kun."

He could feel the captain's eyes roaming all over Kuroko's body. He felt them traveling from one body part to the next. First, his neck. Next, his back. Then, his bottom. It would take a few long moments to look at each part before moving to the next, and the cycle would start all over again. Occasionally, those eyes would take a few detours and examine a head, arm, or leg.

Suddenly, the pressure began to build up dramatically as if...

"Tetsuya, why don't I help you?"

He snuck up right behind Kuroko, giving the poor boy a mini heart attack. The redhead didn't wait for an answer and proceeded to place himself flush against the shorter one's back and placed both hands on the ones holding the basketball.

His face was right next to the other's, so as he spoke, the puffs of air glided into the shorter boy's ears, involuntarily making him shiver but he still kept his impassive look.

"Now, aim a bit above the net and bend your knees."

As he said those instructions, Akashi bent his own knees and held the ball up, keeping the other's hands captive between the ball and the capture's hands. Because they were so close together, Kuroko's own knees bent against the ones behind him.

"Now, jump and release."

The redhead jumped with the phantom and they both released the ball. The orange object landed through the net with a gentle _swoosh_.

Kuroko removed himself from the captain, turned around to face him, and bowed while thanking the other and rubbing his abused ear.

"No problem, Tetsuya," he smirked victoriously, as if touching him was his main goal.

Again, the redhead left and went back to where he originally was standing, at the other end of the court.

Kuroko ran after his ball and continued his practice while trying his best not to explode under the heterochromatic's gaze.

* * *

After school practice had finally ended. Kuroko ran to the locker room to grab his bag and fled the building without so much as a "goodbye" or changing out of his unusually very sweaty clothes.


	2. In The Locker Room

It was time for afternoon practice and Kuroko had just entered the locker room along with his other teammates. They were being as obnoxious and loud as always, but he just ignored their antics. The little phantom quietly shuffled over to his locker at the far end of the corner, opposite the showers. He unlocked the locker and proceeded to change out of his uniform and into his gym clothes. Kuroko had just pulled his shirt over his head when he felt something was amiss. It felt like someone was watching him from afar. He paused before grabbing the hem of his pants. Someone was still gazing intently at his bare back. The stare was making him slightly shake with trepidation, but no one he had ever met made him act like this. No one, except for...

He turned around and locked eyes with none other than the captain himself. Said redhead continued to stare blankly as the other stared back with a look of confusion.

A few minutes passed by as they silently looked at each other, not bothering to change. Everyone else had finished and left awhile ago. The light bluenette was patiently waiting for the redhead to turn around and leave him alone. Unfortunately, luck was not on his side as the taller one kept staring.

Finally, Kuroko gave up and turned away. He continued to take his clothing off, but could still feel the heterochromatic's eyes piercing through him. They followed his hands, watching their every move as he pulled his pants off.

Once he was clad in only his underwear, the phantom felt those eyes wander all over his body. Each spot heated up as dual-colored eyes met skin. He started to feel a slight tingle in his spine.

Immediately, Kuroko yanked on his t-shirt and pulled up his shorts. Then he made a quick getaway out of the locker room.

* * *

Practice was especially brutal today, and Kuroko was dying to get into the shower and clean off a day's work of failing to keep up with everyone. He trudged onwards into the locker room with the others and went over to his locker. Every bone and muscle in his entire body ached from overexertion. The light bluenette slowly peeled off his shirt and stepped out of his shorts along with his underwear, placing them into his locker.

Once again, he felt eyes on him, specifically his naked butt. Feeling very uncomfortable with the current situation, Kuroko fast-walked in the direction of the shower area. It was difficult not to glance at the redhead, for his locker was right next to the entryway of the showers, but he managed.

He walked into the most random stall he could find, hoping that the heterochromatic could not possibly find him.

He turned on the tap and stepped under the shower head. Scorching hot water doused the shadow, soothing his aching body. The sound of running water mingling with the other stalls as some of his teammates had already begun showering.

Kuroko was about to rinse off his head full of soapsuds until he felt them again. He turned his head to the left, his eyes widening slightly in complete shock. Right there, in the stall next to his, was the staring redhead. The walls were too tall for them, so all he could see was the top of the captain's head and his eyes. He was right up against the wall so he could pretty much see all of Kuroko.

"Akashi-kun?" He hesitantly started the conversation.

"Hmm?" The redhead raised a brow, urging him to continue.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing." He brushed off the question and continued to stare.

"...Okay." He turned back towards the shower head and proceeded to rinse off.

After his hair was rid of any soap bubbles, the light bluenette started to wash his body.

It was very awkward trying to scrub himself with soap while someone else watched. He started with his arms, torso, and stomach. As he reached lower towards his private area, Kuroko decided to skip that part and cleaned his legs.

"Tetsuya," the redhead finally spoke up.

The shorter of the two looked at Akashi, raising a brow.

"Yes?"

"You missed a spot." He inclined his head towards the area that Kuroko had left alone.

"Ah... Well, I think I'll leave that for now and deal with it when I get home...," he trailed off.

"Nonsense. It would be a waste of perfectly good water if you were to do that," Akashi reprimanded.

"..." The little phantom did not know how to respond to that, but he was set on not touching that area in front of his captain.

"Shall I help you?" He suggested, starting to move from his spot.

"No, thank you, Akashi-kun," Kuroko responded quickly, backing away from the wall a bit.

Thankfully, the redhead acquiesced and stood back at his original spot. Not thankfully, he still continued to stare.

Not wanting to be around the other any longer while naked, Kuroko excused himself. He bowed and scurried off to his locker, feeling those eyes follow him until he was no longer in sight.

He hurriedly put on his uniform and didn't bother to dry himself, which made the task at hand even more difficult.

The light bluenette was working on his underwear when the redhead showed up again. Kuroko didn't have to even look to know that he was there, or if it was really him, because he could feel the familiar gaze.

He tried even harder to attach his clothing to his soaking wet body as fast as possible, wincing as he was still very sore. The little shadow didn't even care anymore if they weren't on right; he just needed to get away as soon as possible.

Once his last socked foot was jammed inside the shoe, Kuroko grabbed his bag, slammed the locker close, and ran out.


	3. In The Classroom

Walking to his class was no different than any other school day: he stepped onto campus, switched his outdoor shoes for indoor ones at the lockers, ambled his way in the direction of his room, and took the second-to-last seat at the back corner of the class, conveniently right next to the window. He would have preferred the last seat, but his last name wouldn't permit it. Darn the teacher for making them sit in alphabetical order horizontally.

He had just pulled out his pencil and notebook for the current subject when the bell rang. On cue, everyone entered and took their appropriate places. He didn't bother looking up or at anyone as he opened his college-ruled book and clicked out a piece of lead out of his mechanical pencil. No one would notice him anyways.

Thus began his normal routine of school.

* * *

The teacher drawled on and on endlessly about historic people and their many maps.

"This map is for this era, and this other one is for a different time. Blah, blah, remember this, blah. This will help you on your test, so you should write this down. Random words, blergaherg, a leader of Japan, blah, blah, and some random guy. Events happened that I don't remember, so look it up yourselves."

Half the class was either asleep, dead, or fighting a major migraine. The other half just pretended to look smart while doodling on their papers instead of writing down important notes. On the other hand, the teacher couldn't care less what anyone did as long as he wasn't interrupted; he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

The light bluenette did not have to pay attention, since his best courses were humanities. Kuroko was in the middle of drawing a bad-ass version of himself dunking in a basketball when it happened. His skin went icy cold, his eyes dilated a fraction, his hands shook as he dropped his pencil, and a cold sweat was beginning to form. It was _him._ There was no doubt about it. He could _feel_ it.

But how was this possible? Kuroko was in class 2-C. The other should be in class 2-A, two classrooms away from each other.

_Calm down. There's no use in panicking. _The light bluenette forced himself to stop all these unnecessary reactions and put on a perfect mask of indifference. He picked up his pencil and resumed drawing his dream self.

* * *

He had just finished his masterpiece and forgotten about the other's presence, until a piece of neatly folded paper flopped onto his desk. Cautiously, Kuroko took the paper into his hands and opened it.

_Nice drawing._

His eyes widened slightly in bewilderment. He contemplated on either ignoring it and throwing it away after class, or responding to it; none of the options were safe choices.

Suddenly, another note came into view on top of his drawing. Then another and another and another, until there were fourteen little pieces of papers stacked onto his desk.

He separated them and noticed that each had either a capital letter, lowercase letter, or symbol neatly written on it in _his_ handwriting: Y, U, T, ~, A, S, and E.

Having nothing else better to do, and against his better judgment, Kuroko began deciphering the code.

* * *

The little phantom froze. He had finished arranging the letters and was frightened by the word that was formed by these little itty-bitty pieces of evenly cut papers.

_Tetsuuuuyaaa~~_

He did not know what to do next. There was nothing _to_ do. How could he respond to something like that?

Before he could come up with a sensible plan to ignore the notes, _he_ made the first move.

"Pay attention, Tetsuya," he whispered into Kuroko's ear from behind.

The light bluenette jolted in surprise and looked up at the board, as he was told to do, while rubbing his ear. Then he decided to write down the notes as to pass the time and to avoid interacting with a certain someone.

* * *

"So this is a famous history person by the name of... I don't know. And this is a map of some random place from some random time."

Akashi was resting his head on his hand whose arm was propped up on the desk, while listening to the history teacher drone on and on, until he got bored again. He looked at the person he had been throwing notes to sitting in front of him and smirked as said person slightly stiffened, as if he knew that the redhead was staring. He then spotted something interesting and came up with another brilliant plan.

The little phantom was doodling again: a giant version of himself shooting a three-pointer. He was making some finishing touches on his face when, out of nowhere, a finger was sliding down his spine. His hand spazzed out and he accidentally drew a line between the eyebrows, forming a unibrow.

"..."

Feeling exasperated by the interruption that caused his drawing's unibrow, Kuroko glared behind him.

"Akashi-kun, please stop it."

"Hmm? Stop what?" Akashi smugly replied.

"Stop whatever it is that you are doing."

"And what am I doing?"

The phantom paused. He seriously did not know what Akashi was up to.

"...I don't know."

"Exactly." The redhead smirked victoriously.

Sighing quietly to himself, Kuroko turned back around and attempted to fix his artwork.

Immediately, Akashi's hand shot up and lightly traced the back of the light bluenette's neck. Kuroko's hand went spastic again, and this time he drew lasers coming out of his eyes. _He's not going to stop..._ He internally sighed and tried to scoot as far away from those hands as possible.

It seemed that the captain took the hint and left the shorter one alone. For now.

* * *

Class was almost finally over and everyone was getting jittery, including Kuroko. He knew the redhead was going to do something, so he remained on guard.

But five minutes have passed and only a few seconds were left of class. Heaving a sigh of relief, the light bluenette slumped back against his chair.

"Tetsuuuuyaaa~~," came the mischievous voice from behind, the owner's lips only a few centimeters away from the phantom's ear.

The bell rang and Kuroko bolted out the door.


	4. In The Halls

_...What is he doing? _Kuroko stood there, blankly staring at the retreating form of a short redhead who turned at a corner and stepped out of view.

It was passing period in Teiko Middle School and Kuroko was right outside his classroom, leaning against the window that taunted its prisoners inside with the wide open space. The previous class had just ended a minute ago, leaving four more blessed minutes of freedom, and Kuroko was already annoyed by a certain basketball captain.

Right when the school bell rang, the light bluenette's classmates all fled from the room as if the building caught on fire, save for one person and himself of course. The door was jam packed with students trying to squeeze through the small opening. Yells and shouts were heard as they all pushed and shoved each other aside. Kuroko took his time getting up, pushing his chair in, and meandering his way out. A certain someone hot on his heels, literally. Akashi was so close to Kuroko that he kept stepping on the poor phantom's heels, marring the pale skin with red marks. Said culprit continued with his assault, not bothering to apologize. In fact, he moved even closer to the light bluenette, if that was even possible. The redhead was practically leaning on him now.

After getting the back of his feet stepped on harshly for the fifteenth time, Kuroko stopped walking. The other followed suit.

He turned around, his emotionless face only centimeters away from the taller one's.

"Akashi-kun."

"Yes, Tetsuya?" The redhead answered curiously with a tilt of his head.

"You're stepping on my shoes," he deadpanned.

"Ah. My apologies."

Akashi then backed away from the light bluenette a few inches, allowing him a smidgen of space back in his personal bubble.

"Thank you."

Kuroko turned back around and took a step, only to halt once again as the heel of his right shoe was stepped on, thus scraping the skin.

He looked back at the captain.

"You're stepping on me again," he calmly spoke with a tiny hint of exasperation in his voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry. There just seems to be too many people trying to get out, and I am in a bit of a hurry," the redhead explained.

A look of confusion appeared on Kuroko's face. He turned his head towards the door and found it completely devoid of any human life form. Then he faced Akashi again.

"There is no one here, Akashi-kun."

"Is that so?" He feigned surprise. "Well, I best be going now. I'll see you later, Tetsuya."

The taller of the two stepped around the light bluenette and proceeded out the exit. Kuroko, on the other hand, contemplated on how the captain could not have noticed that everyone left. The silence in the room was an obvious indication. The only other noise was the quiet chattering opposite the door.

However, the little phantom couldn't understand why the redhead did anything the way he did. So, he walked out the classroom. There he saw his two closest friends, Aomine and Kise, talking amongst themselves near the windows. He decided to pass the time with their mindless conversations that always ended up turning into arguments, and went over to them.

They were thirty seconds into the conversation when Akashi walked by.

"Tetsuya." He nodded towards him in recognition and continued his route.

"Akashi-kun." The light bluenette slightly bowed back.

Seeing that Akashi was still in a hurry to get to wherever he was supposed to be at and would not stop to talk, Kuroko went back into the trio's conversation.

Only five seconds had passed and Akashi showed up again.

"Tetsuya." He inclined his head again in the light bluenette's direction.

"Akashi-kun," Kuroko replied with the same short bow as before.

Then, Akashi walked on again and Kuroko refocused his attention to his friend's heated discussion.

This little exchange occurred five more times, each happening in exact five-second intervals.

By the time the first minute of passing period had taken place, Kuroko began wondering what exactly Akashi was doing. He was literally walking back and forth while greeting the phantom. It was starting to get on his nerves, and slightly creep him out but Kuroko would never admit that.

Once minute four had rolled by, and the redhead was still doing his weird ritual, the light bluenette got curious. He wanted to know where the captain was going after each salutation and why he was so quick to come back to say hello again.

When there was approximately only thirty seconds left until they all had to go back to their classrooms, Kuroko initiated his plan.

Akashi came by again.

"Tetsuya." A nod.

"Akashi-kun." A bow.

Once the redhead could not see the other out of the corner of his eyes, Kuroko began to trail after him. He made sure not to make any sounds, not to stand too close, and not to stare too intently, because he learned that others can feel it when they were being stared at.

Each step Akashi took, the light bluenette would copy in order to not have his presence sensed for being too close or lose sight of the other for being too far away. The slowest seconds of his entire life ticked on like hours, making the sneaking teen more nervous of his devious act. He wouldn't know what to do if the other had caught him.

Finally, they had reached the turn. It was only a few steps away.

Akashi rounded the corner and disappeared. He wasn't out of Kuroko's sight for too long, since he was still nearby and also turned into that corner.

What happened after that surprised them both.

Akashi immediately stopped in front of Kuroko in order to not run him over while Kuroko halted mid-step as he had just made the turn.

They stood and stared at each other, their faces barely a centimeter apart, still shocked about what had just occurred.

Suddenly, the bell rang. They both snapped out of their stupors as students began dragging their feet into their classrooms. The redhead and light bluenette also slowly made their way back, the taller of the two lagging a bit behind, as they both thought about what had just happened.


	5. In The Cafeteria

This was it. Today was the day. It was time to get revenge on Akashi Seijuro. Kuroko had been waiting for this moment ever since two minutes ago. Ever since Akashi had just successfully creeped Kuroko out two minutes ago. Ever since he thought up of a brilliant, fool-proof plan to seek vengeance two minutes ago. Ever since lunch started... two minutes ago.

The redhead was seated across from his light blue-headed companion, munching on a piece of fancy sushi from his extravagant bento he had brought from his lavish mansion home. He was acting as if he had not just traumatized the poor little phantom to death just a while ago. Kuroko, however, remained sipping his cheap vanilla milkshake in a size extra large cup that was bought from his favorite fast food restaurant as he looked up towards his captain.

"Akashi-kun."

"Hmm?"

"I am going to stare at you."

"Stare at me?" He raised an eyebrow at Kuroko, finally looking up from his meal.

"All day."

"All day?"

"Yes." His face remained blank as he nodded.

"Why is that?" He set down his chopsticks to give the phantom his full attention as his eyes danced with amusement.

"To creep you out."

"Creep me out?" His elbows rested on the table, fingers interlocked as he set his chin upon them.

"Yes." As stoic as ever, he nodded once again.

"And why do you want to creep me out?"

"To pay you back for creeping me out."

"Is that so?" The redhead smirked.

"Yes." Not a single facial muscle had twitched as he nodded.

"Good luck, then." Akashi chuckled as he, too, began to stare relentlessly at the light bluenette.

"Thank you."

Thus, the staring match began.

* * *

Only two minutes had passed and Kuroko was already losing it. Staring at others was as easy as vanilla (he did it all the time, while drinking his precious milkshake), but being stared at? He was not used to such attention. And why was Akashi staring at him anyways? Kuroko was the one who wanted to creep him out. He was the creeper, not the creepee... Is that even a word? Whatever. His job was to creep Akashi out, not the other way around. Which was why after only two measly minutes of constantly fidgeting on the phantom's part, Kuroko decided to speak up.

"Akashi-kun."

"Hmm?"

"Time out, please."

The taller of the two raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"There are no time outs in real life, Tetsuya."

"There are in basketball." He retorted.

"Touche."

"Time out, please."

"Alright," the captain relented. "You may have five minutes. No more, no less."

"Thank you." Kuroko looked away.

...

"Akashi-kun."

"Hmm?"

"Stop staring, please."

"But I'm not having a time out."

"Time outs are a two-way thing, Akashi-kun."

"Touche."

"Stop staring, please," he repeated.

"Very well. I shall have a time out, too."

"Thank you."

...

"Akashi-kun."

"Hmm?"

"You're still staring."

"Indeed I am."

"But you're in time out."

"Indeed I am."

"..."

Not wanting to be stared at anymore, Kuroko abruptly stood up and left the cafeteria. Akashi, however, was not far behind.

"Tetsuya," the redhead teasingly called out towards the fleeing boy, "you don't want to lose, do you?"

The phantom ignored him and continued on.

"Once the five minutes are up, you will have to stare at me again."

The light bluenette sped up at this remark.

"Do you want to lose?"

Kuroko rounded a corner.

Akashi rounded a corner.

_One minute had passed._

"If you don't face me, I can't face you, either."

The light bluenette rushed through the halls.

The redhead rushed through the halls.

_Two minutes had passed._

"Then I will also lose."

The shorter of the two sprinted past the classrooms.

The taller of the two sprinted past the classrooms.

_Three minutes had passed._

"Do you want me to lose?"

The phantom darted up a flight of stairs.

The captain darted up a flight of stairs.

_Four minutes had passed._

"You know how I am about winning."

Kuroko reached the door to the rooftop.

Akashi pinned him against the door to the rooftop.

_Five minutes had passed._

"I am absolute."


	6. In The Library

Today had been such a great day for a certain little phantom. No homework, no basketball practices, and no red-headed creepers with dual-colored eyes. _Hahh... So refreshing._ It's days like these that Kuroko treasures so much; who knows when the next time a moment like this will ever happen again. And now, the light bluenette has rewarded himself, for somehow achieving such a fine day, with a trip to the school library where he can relax and read to his heart's content. It has been so long since he last stepped foot in such a facility. Just thinking about the enormous amount of mystery novels he can read for hours is making the little phantom shake with excitement.

Upon entering the room, Kuroko could smell the sweet scent of books, old and new. He let a small smile slip onto his face. Closing his eyes and pausing at the entryway, he inhaled the wonderful aroma that only books could give off. _Hahh..._ Then, the little phantom scurried off to find the mystery section of the library.

To his amazement, there was a whole corner in the back of the building dedicated to mystery readers: bean bags, circular and rectangular tables varying in size with matching comfy-looking chairs, baskets full of blankets and quilts, lounge chairs, and large windows on each side of the corner. All that was surrounded by shelves and shelves of the beloved genre. The library must have gotten a huge donation from a rich parent of a mystery lover. _This is the best day of my life. _Walking through the bookshelves in a daze, he knocked on the wood a few times to counteract any jinx.

Oh, Kuroko. If only he knew that it was fake wood...

Running his hands on the spines of books he passed, a certain one finally caught his eye. He stopped right in front of it and slowly retrieved it from its holding place. What was revealed from behind that book was a single golden eye staring directly at him.

Kuroko jumped in shock and dodged to the side, leaning heavily against the books. As slowly and quietly as possible, he reached over and attempted to put the book back in its place to block out a certain someone's face on the other side of that bookshelf. _It's just an illusion. My eyes are playing tricks on me._ Almost there... Just a little more and-

"Tetsuya?"

-the book dropped to the floor. The redhead had walked around to Kuroko's side of the bookshelf and abruptly stopped at the sound of the book. Both individuals stared blankly at the fallen object, one scared to death and the other confused.

"What are you doing, Tetsuya?"

The redhead began to walk closer, a bit too close in the other's personal space, and picked up the book, holding it up for Kuroko to take. He was literally trapping the shorter one against the shelf now. Slowly, the light bluenette gingerly grabbed the item and silently thanked him. Not once did he look Akashi in the eye, preferably keeping his head down and staring at the same spot the book had previously landed.

"I was just getting a book to read."

"I see."

More silence...

"Ah."

The phantom perked up at the sound and curiously looked up at the captain.

"I didn't know you like mystery." Akashi held up the same exact book as Kuroko's in his own hand.

That was a surprise. Who knew the captain liked them too? _...Wait a second..._

"Yes, you did," the light bluenette accused. He clearly remembers telling the captain about his favorite mystery novel, the exact one in both of their hands right now.

At this, Akashi smirked.

"Ah, you caught my bluff."

And he leaned in a bit closer to the other's face.

"Shall we go read?" The redhead suggested. "There is plenty of room in my personal section of the library."

He gestured back at the amazingly-put-together corner devoted solely for mystery books.

_No... _Kuroko's eyes widened.

"You did this?" The little phantom whispered in dismay.

"Indeed I did." His heterochromatic eyes had a brief glint in them as his smirk grew minutely.

Akashi held out his hand for the other to take, silently asking for him to follow. _Not like I can get away anyways..._ Reluctantly, Kuroko took the offered hand and trailed after him.

To the light bluenette's relief, Akashi had led them to a rectangular table in the middle of the room. He gestured for the shorter of the two to take a seat and pushed the chair in as Kuroko sat, his hands lingering on the phantom's shoulders for far too long. Then, the captain swiftly took the seat right across from him.

"Let's begin," he nodded at Kuroko's book.

"Okay."

And the light bluenette opened his book and began to read.

* * *

What the little phantom noticed as he was silently reading was that he had a nice view outside of the two windows in the corner, the exit of the library was closer to him just in case he needed to flee from a certain someone, and that said someone was intently staring at him. In fact, the redhead had been staring at him since minute one. Not once did he open his own book to read. Actually, the book was nowhere to be found, as it was not on the table.

"...Akashi-kun?" He finally spoke up.

"Hmm?" The redhead raised a brow.

"Aren't you going to read?"

"I am reading."

"...No, you're not..." There was slight confusion in his voice as he tilted his head to the side.

At this statement, Akashi smirked and opened his mouth to reply.

"'Langdon could not help but feel a deep sense of loss at the curator's death. Despite Saunière's reputation for being reclusive, his recognition for dedication to the arts made him an easy man to revere. His books on the secret codes hidden in the paintings of Poussin and Teniers were some of Langdon's favorite classroom texts. Tonight's meeting had been one Langdon was very much looking forward to, and he was disappointed when the curator had not shown.'"

Kuroko's eyes widened.

"That's the same paragraph I'm in the middle of reading," he spoke in awe; Akashi had recited the paragraph flawlessly, word for word.

"Is that so?" He smiled knowingly.

"..." Kuroko furrowed his brows.

The light bluenette was busy trying to figure out how Akashi could have known what part of the book he was on, and how he could have memorized the whole book, when he felt something rub against his ankle.

He jolted in his seat.

"Is something the matter, Tetsuya?"

The phantom looked up and saw a mischievous smile playing on the redhead's lips. _It's his foot._

"...There is something rubbing on my ankle." There was an unspoken accusation directed towards the captain.

"Hmm~ Is that so?" He mockingly replied.

Akashi's foot began to trail higher on Kuroko's leg, stopping at the knees and pushing his legs apart where he could then rub an inner thigh.

"..."

Red in the face, the shorter of the two dropped his book onto the table, pushed his chair back, stood up, and practically ran towards the door.

"Tetsuya, you forgot to put your book away," the redhead teasingly called out.


	7. In The Store

_Another Saturday night, another grocery trip._ Kuroko sighed as he pulled up his scarf higher up his face to cover his nose and mouth, silently shivering and cursing at the harsh winter winds. If only he was still living with his grandmother like back in middle school, where the convenience store was just a few minutes away. But now he's an independent high schooler, living alone in an apartment complex two miles away from the nearest shop. And living by himself meant being dirt poor with only the small amounts of money sent to him by his parents from overseas. He couldn't get a job because no one ever noticed him long enough to not steal the cash from the register right in front of him when he was on duty. And no job meant having no car and no bike. _Well, at least this is good exercise._

It had just gotten dark when he finally made it to the grocery store, but the place was open twenty-four seven so he had as much time as he needed to shop to his leisure. As he grabbed a shopping cart, Kuroko pulled out his shopping list and began to search for his items.

* * *

He had just made it halfway through his list when he felt a strange sensation. It felt oddly familiar, but he couldn't seem to remember where he had experienced it from.

_How long has it been since I've felt this? Three years? That seems right, but from where?_ He just couldn't remember. Middle school was such a [not really] traumatic moment of his life; most of the events have been temporarily blocked out by his mind [due to embarrassment]. If only there was a hint as to what this was, then he would be able to remember.

_Oh well._ He ignored the weird feeling and continued on with his grocery list. If it was important, then he would remember it soon enough.

* * *

Kuroko just could not shake off the odd feeling. It seemed like... he was being intently watched from afar. His spine tingled and he started to slightly heat up. Now that seemed familiar, too. The feeling did not relent one bit and followed him everywhere he went.

He had just finished his list and put the last item into his cart when there was a sudden atmosphere of desperate urgency. He wasn't in a hurry, so what was it?

He was pushing his cart down the empty aisle and towards the direction of the the front of the store to the check-out area. Glancing around the other food and drinks put on display, he pondered if he had enough money left over for a small bag of chips, just in case for when he was in a snacking mood during the week. _Maybe the cheapest bag will-_

The abrupt stop made him bump into his cart with an _Oomph_. Fortunately, nothing fell over from the impact; some items in his cart just jostled about. Looking over the end of the aisle to where the crash had occurred, Kuroko caught red.

"Kagami-kun?"

He walked around his and the other mystery person's shopping carts to get a better look at the redhead. Who he saw made his eyes widen in disbelief, and forced his brain to unlock that metaphorical forbidden forest of his inner mind.

"Ah. Tetsuya, fancy meeting you here." The former captain of Teikou's basketball team acknowledged Kuroko with a hint of surprise.

"Akashi-kun? What are you doing here in Tokyo?" The light bluenette was perplexed at meeting someone that he had thought was supposed to be in Kyoto, many miles away from where they were currently standing.

"Ah..." The redhead paused with a blank look on his face.

Not wanting to interrupt, the little phantom patiently waited for the answer and gave the other his full attention.

"... So what are you doing here so late at night?" He dodged the question.

"I'm buying groceries for this week." He curiously looked down at the other's cart, "What are you buying, Aka-..." Kuroko's eyes widened comically.

Right in front of him, in the redhead's cart, were boxes upon boxes of... _condoms?_

The former captain followed the other's line of sight and spotted his own cart. It was overflowing to the brim with many different brands of condoms in various sizes and flavors.

"Ah..." He paused again and looked back up to see the light bluenette's hilariously horrified face, as if he had seen a ghost having sex with his grandmother. He would have laughed, but he couldn't in this situation.

Kuroko looked back up to the redhead.

"... So you came here for condoms?"

"... Yes...?" Akashi replied questioningly.

"Eighty-two boxes?"

"... Yes...?"

"I see..." Kuroko's face slowly relaxed back to its emotionless normal form. "You must be a busy man, Akashi-kun."

"... Huh?" It was Akashi's turn to be confused.

"I remember you saying that you took over your father's company when you entered high school. I see that work is making you very stressful, forcing you to resort to sexual pleasure just to ease the strain due to your workload." The small phantom had a look of sympathy and understanding for the redhead. "It is good that you are doing it safely; those nasty diseases can be a real pain."

"Wait- No, you're misunderstanding." Akashi tried to stop the other's train of thought before he could think of the redhead as such a vile and despicable being._ Think, Akashi, think! Oh, I got it!_

The redhead fixed his composure, smirked, and locked eyes with the light bluenette as he opened his mouth.

"This is for you."

Kuroko's eyes widened, yet again, and his jaw dropped open a few centimeters.

"... I don't need it, thank you."

"Oh, I'm not offering it _to_ you; I'm offering to use it _in_ you." His smirk widened.

"... I'm done shopping, so I have to go now." The light bluenette slowly dragged his shopping cart and himself away from the tall creep.

"Ah," the redhead realized, "I am also done." And he followed the other to the check-out line.

"I'll pay for your groceries. My treat." Akashi offered.

"Ah... Thank you..." The little phantom reluctantly agreed and smiled in gratitude.

* * *

After the items were bagged and paid for, the duo walked out the store and paused in front of a fancy-shmancy, sleek, blood-red car.

"I'll drive you home." Akashi suggested, dumping his bags into the trunk.

"No, thank you, Akashi-kun. It's too far away." He shook his head.

"Then how about I take you to my place? It's a lot closer." The redhead opened the driver's seat and got in, rolling down the window.

Remembering the boxes of condoms, the light bluenette instantly refused.

"Alright. I'll see you later then," Akashi waved and started the engine.

Making sure he wouldn't turn around and follow, Kuroko waited for the redhead to drive off into the distance until he couldn't see the car's tail lights any longer. Then, he high-tailed it out of there and towards the sanctuary of his home.


	8. In The Park

Today had been one of those rare times that Seirin High had no after school practice, due to another minor reconstruction on the school's gym floor. Once again, Kagami had accidentally landed too hard too many times on the same exact spot under the hoop and left a shoe-shaped dent on the ground. And, of course, Riko had kindly taught Bakagami a long and painful lesson he will always remember, but never learn from. _There's just no helping him_, Kuroko heaved a quiet sigh.

Any normal person would have thanked the dumb American for a day off from such strenuous work, but Kuroko was not normal. He lived and breathed basketball. So, like any other day that this would happen, Kuroko was left restless for some basketball. Therefore, the only solution for such a problem was to go to the nearest basketball court and practice until his legs gave out.

* * *

It had been a little over three hours since the little phantom had found a court in a nearby park and started shooting hoops, two hours since a group of wannabe thugs tried to exorcise him with their bottles of beer (_it's the middle of the day, why are they already getting drunk?_), and an hour since he scared off an elementary kid who just wanted to play with the floating basketball, but got hit in the face once the ball hit the rim of the hoop. Three hours, yet Kuroko was still full of energy. So much energy that he needed to have a match with someone to blow off some steam and calm down.

"Why hasn't anybody asked to play one-on-one yet?" He monotonously asked himself. "Am I not good enough? Do I not look strong? Am I unlikeable? Will no one see me as a worthy opponent?"

He mechanically placed the back of his hand against his forehead and impassively looked off into the distance.

"Oh, woe is me."

With a blank face, he ended his mini soliloquy.

"I should be an actor," he nodded to himself.

"Within a year, I could get a Grammy. Maybe even two," Kuroko proceeded to praise himself some more and went back to shooting hoops in an attempt to release some pent-up energy.

Only a few minutes had passed when, suddenly, an eerily familiar voice called out to him from behind.

"Tetsuya?"

Kuroko froze mid-throw and slowly turned his head around to find a face mere inches from his own.

_Good thing he just showed up. If he saw my acting, that would have been awkward, _Kuroko thought to himself, lowering the basketball and facing his former captain.

_Good thing he didn't know I showed up when he started acting. That would have been awkward,_ Akashi faintly thought while smiling to the light bluenette in greeting.

"Long time no see. How have you been?"

"Ah. I am fine. How are you, Akashi-kun?" Kuroko nodded back to the redhead.

"I am good as well." Akashi looked around and spotted the light bluenette's basketball.

He lightly gestured to the ball with his hand. "Since I just happened to pass by here coincidentally by chance with no utter knowledge whatsoever that you were going to be here at this same exact court and I just so happen to have some free time at this exact moment of time in my booked schedule, shall we have a one-on-one?"

At the mention of a game with someone, Kuroko's eyes brightened up and he eagerly nodded his head.

* * *

Playing basketball with Akashi was quite uncomfortable, to say the least. Why? Well, here are a couple examples:

Whenever Akashi would have the ball, he would dribble up to where Kuroko would be defending and get in his personal bubble. His nose would be practically shoved against Kuroko's, blocking any airway into the little phantom's nose, and thus stealing his air. He would be so close that he metaphorically popped said personal bubble. And like a fish out of water, Kuroko would gasp for breath until his bubble came back (meaning that Akashi would have to back up and put some space between them).

It was even worse when Kuroko was the one who had the ball. After Akashi scored and Kuroko would get the ball, to prevent the latter from turning around, the redhead would attach himself onto the whole of Kuroko's back. This may or may not have resulted into a certain someone discreetly humping the other.

With all of these factors put together, Kuroko was a distracted, stuttering mess and Akashi smugly won the match.

At the end of the game, the light bluenette collapsed onto the nearest bench and chugged almost half of his water bottle, which was not a good idea and now he felt like throwing it all back up with his now bloated belly.

He placed a hand on the bench next to himself and leaned against it, sighing tiredly and blissfully because of the energy-consuming game; most likely the only game where he felt like passing out every two seconds. Well, a game is a game and he wouldn't have passed that up for anything. The opponent, however, was another story.

Speaking of the opponent, the redhead had been staring in Kuroko's direction ever since the game ended. Well, his eyes never left the phantom in the first place, but still. The match was over so there was no reason for Akashi to stare so intently at him.

The light bluenette looked over at his former captain and caught him ogling at the water bottle that was still clutched in Kuroko's hand.

"Would you like some water, Akashi-kun?" He offered said bottle towards the redhead.

"Yes," the other immediately replied all too enthusiastically.

He proceeded to fast-walk towards the bottle and took it graciously, eying the rim as if it was the most beautiful thing in the world. Slowly, as if to savor the majestic liquid, he took multiple sips and traced his tongue around the entire rim of the bottle. After he was done, the redhead reluctantly handed the bottle back over to Kuroko.

"... You can keep it," the little phantom politely pushed the slobber-covered bottle back towards the other.

"Ah. Thank you, Tetsuya," the redhead carefully held the precious water bottle to his chest. "As repayment, let me buy you a vanilla milkshake next week at Maji Burger."

_Milkshake, milkshake, milkshake._ The word repeated itself over and over in Kuroko's mind, putting him in a dreamlike trance.

"Okay," the light bluenette replied in his stupor.

"Excellent. I will meet you at two," the redhead smirked victoriously, "See you there."

Then, Akashi walked away.

"..."

After a few minutes, Kuroko finally snapped out of his mental slumber and realized too late what he had just gotten himself into.

"What have I done..."


	9. In The Restaurant

"What would you like to order, Tetsuya?" Akashi looked up from his menu to his irritated companion sitting across from him.

"This isn't Maji Burger, Akashi-kun." The light bluenette did not so much as spare a single glance at his own menu laying folded on the lavishly made table in front of him.

Surrounding them were many other fancy tables and chairs filled with the most elegant and beautifully dressed aristocrats. Waiters in freshly ironed vests and slacks walked around, taking orders and carefully placing five-star food on other tables. Silent chattering and clinks of glassware could be heard occasionally from other patrons. Playing in the distant background was a rendition of an American classic, Pachelbel's Canon in D Major.

"Yes, Tetsuya." The redhead sighed, closing his menu and placing it back on the table. "We've been over this already. I told you that I wanted to take you to a nicer restaurant where the food is more healthy-"

"While you dragged me, kicking and screaming, into your jet to another country." Kuroko glared.

"I will not deny that my tactic was a bit... unnecessary, but so was your attitude," he pointed out.

"I was only acting according to how I saw fit for kidnapping," the phantom replied.

"I did not 'kidnap' you," Akashi retorted, somewhat offended, "I was merely physically suggesting you to get on that plane so we may dine in a better environment."

"A suggestion would mean that I would have a choice to either comply or not, _without_ any consequences," he emphasized.

"Who said I would hurt you if you didn't go with me?" The redhead innocently questioned.

"You did," Kuroko bluntly stated. "Three times: before, during, and after the ride."

"Oh, I did, did I?" The other tilted his head towards the ceiling in mock contemplation, tapping his chin with an index finger. "I don't seem to recall such a thing."

"You said, 'Don't make this any harder than it has to be, Tetsuya. We can either go the easy way or the hard way. And might I remind you that the hard way may or may not involve some pain on your part,'" the phantom quoted word for word.

"Impressive," Akashi commented with raised brows, resting his chin atop the palm of his hand.

"Now," the phantom stood up, "if you'll excuse me, I'll be going now."

But a chuckle stopped him from turning away.

"And where would you go? You barely know any English. Remember that we are currently in New York, and I doubt you can even take one single step out of this restaurant without having to ask someone for directions." The redhead pointed at the light bluenette's chair, motioning for his companion to sit.

"..."

Reluctantly, Kuroko slowly sat back down and silently picked up his menu, brooding behind the leathery pamphlet.

Smirking victoriously, Akashi leaned back in his seat, crossed his arms, and patiently waited for the light bluenette to pick out his order before waving over a waitress.

* * *

The meal dragged on for quite some time, especially since a certain redhead was ordering as much as his stomach could handle and eating slower than a snail, just to irk a certain phantom who was already peeved off from the start. Said phantom was now openly glaring at said redhead, who was enjoying this way too much.

After the fifteenth time Akashi took a bite the size of a pea from the slice of chocolate cake, Kuroko's patience snapped.

"Akashi-kun."

"Hmm?" The heterochromatic paused mid-bite to look up at Kuroko.

"You are taking even smaller bites than me." He crossed his arms and a small pout could be seen. "Are you mocking me?"

"Of course not," amusement laced his voice. "I was just savoring the exquisite taste."

"Well, you've savored enough. You've been savoring since the beginning. Now hurry up and let's go. I want to go home," the shorter of the two demanded.

"No need to lash out at me," Akashi raised his hands in a gesture of mock surrender, placing his fork down and calling over a waiter for the check.

Once the duo were out of the restaurant and heading towards the direction of the private jet, the light bluenette heaved an irritated sigh.

"I am never accepting anything from you ever again," Kuroko grumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" The redhead turned to his companion in question.

"Nothing. Go away." He glared.

The taller of the two raised an amused eyebrow.

"If I did that, then you would get lost." Just to prove his point, the redhead fastened his pace and detoured towards a crowded area.

At the prospect of getting lost in a foreign country, Kuroko grabbed the other's sleeve, forcefully slowing him down, and glared daggers at the ground.

"... Shut up and keep walking." He closely followed along.

"As you wish," Akashi smirked and led them to their destination.

* * *

When the two finally made it back to Tokyo, Akashi brought them to Maji Burger, as he had originally promised, and ordered his companion an extra-large vanilla milkshake. Instantly, the phantom's mood took a one-eighty from a single sip and he soon forgot all about the restaurant incident... or so Akashi thought.

For the next few weeks, the redhead woke up to an egged and toilet-papered house, a keyed car, and the same message spray-painted in blood red onto his driveway since Day One of the vandalism: I forgive you, Bakashi-kun.

The heterochromatic merely shook his head and chuckled at the childishness every time.

Then, he would proceed to call the phantom and thank him for such a lovely present every morning, to which the light bluenette would pretend he had no idea what the redhead was talking about and abruptly end the call.


	10. In His House

Violent shivering was what woke Kuroko up in the middle of the night. His arms and torso were freezing to death and would not stop its incessant shaking. Every single body part was so uncomfortably cold, yet he was already bundled up with layers and layers of blankets due to the recent winter nights.

In his drowsy haze, he merely thought nothing of it and snuggled deeper into his makeshift cocoon to retain some of its heat. Soon, Kuroko dozed back into a deep sleep.

* * *

_When the light bluenette's eyes fluttered open in the afternoon, his view of the bright window was blocked by two familiar faces, one filled with worry and the other filled with adoration._

_"Mom," he croaked out, sliding an arm out from under the blankets and reaching for his parents, "Dad."_

_Immediately, his mother clasped his smaller hand into her warm ones and presented him with her motherly smile._

_"It's alright, Tetsuya. We'll take care of you," she soothed, patting his hand._

_With a damp towel cooling his sweating forehead and the soft, reassuring murmurs of his parents, the light bluenette's eyes slowly closed and he drifted off to dreamland._

* * *

Kuroko woke up to a stomachache this time, the chills having subsided for now. He unconsciously rubbed his abdomen in a circular, soothing motion and his face slightly contorted into a look of pain. Something was unpleasantly churning in there and he had a feeling he was going to see it soon.

Maybe it was just something he had ingested the night before. The vanilla shake he had ordered late that night did taste a bit off. Perhaps the milk was spoiled.

Cracking his eyes open, he chanced a look at the clock on his nightstand. The luminescent numbers flashed three hours after midnight. It was way too early for this.

But his stomach thought otherwise because in the next two seconds, Kuroko was already out of his bed and sprinting towards his bathroom.

Chunks and lumps along with warm white liquid climbed out of his throat and projected into his pristine, white toilet. _What the heck did I eat?_ For the next twenty minutes, white matter was constantly being spewed into the bowl. Occasionally, there would be a few hacking, coughing, and choking from the poor little phantom. Tears were flowing freely down his face from lack of air.

After dry heaving for a few more minutes with nothing coming out, the light bluenette deemed it safe to slowly drag himself back into bed.

Again, he thought nothing of the whole situation and blamed it on the drink.

Once his body was securely wrapped in his many layers of blankets, Kuroko instantly blacked out.

* * *

_Everything felt so hot for the phantom. He was sweating profusely and his breathing was ragged. The light clothing he wore was no help in cooling his body and the futon was digging unbearably hard into his aching back. Blearily opening his eyes, Kuroko caught the sight of his grandmother squeezing out a wet towel into a filled basin and placing it on his warm forehead.  
_

_"Grandma," he whispered in a hoarse voice._

_Her face was slightly surprised at the awake boy, for it was early in the morning._

_"It's alright, Tetsuya," she smiled fondly at her grandson. "I'll take care of you."_

_And with that comforting note, the phantom soon fell back to sleep._

* * *

The morning rays of the newly risen sun peeking out from the closed curtain woke up the light bluenette. He squinted into the bright light and turned over on his side to block it out with his back. Groaning in nausea and pain, he had no other choice but to deem himself sick. Kuroko slowly sat up, grabbing the blankets with him as he went, and reached over to his phone on the nightstand, disregarding the clock flashing an angry seven.

Unlocking the device and languidly scrolling through his contacts, he stopped at the number for the kindergarten he worked at. After a quick sick call to his boss, he carefully placed the phone back down and unceremoniously fell on his back. Burrowing himself deeper into his warm haven, he forced himself to rest for a few more hours.

* * *

_Kuroko was coughing his lungs out in his bed that night. There was no other life form in his apartment other than himself. Sitting up in bed, he realized just how big his place was without another person living there with him. Everything was so painfully quiet, save for the frequent violent outbursts of his coughing fits._

_He had to fill his own basin with water. He had to get his own towel from the cabinet. He had to carry them to his own room. He had wring out his towel and place it on his head every half hour. He had to go out and buy medicine and make his own porridge. And he had no one to depend on, except himself.  
_

_"It's alright, Tetsuya," he muttered bitterly to himself, "You can take care of yourself."_

* * *

It was twelve in the afternoon when Kuroko woke up again. After five hours of sleep, he was still tired and sluggish. Plus, he had somehow accumulated a moderate fever during his nap. It seems this sickness was more stubborn than Kuroko himself.

This wasn't like all the other times he got sick. This was more intense than he thought.

"This is Japanese lunch time rush," Kuroko jokingly told himself, reminiscing on his high school days with the stupid redhead.

Speaking of Kagami, what was he up to nowadays? He distantly remembered him raving about becoming a firefighter during graduation. Firefighters... They put out fires, don't they?

"Help, Kagami-kun," he drunkenly waved his arms around towards the ceiling, "There's a fire in my head. I've fallen and I can't get up."

He chuckled at his own lame joke.

Speaking of old friends, where were his other high school classmates and team members? Are they even still in Japan? Are they dead? Has the HyuuRiko ship sailed yet? And what about his middle school friends? Do they still play basketball? What happened to the Generation of Miracles? Like Kise, Aomine, Momoi, and...

"Akashi-kun..." He quietly called out, looking at his window blissfully.

As if that was the magic word, Kuroko heard the door to his house unlock and open. After a few rustling and footsteps later, said heterochromatic walked into the light bluenette's bedroom and spotted the sickly phantom.

"Long time no see, Tetsuya." Akashi smirked.

"I won't even ask how you got the key to my house, considering I have the only copy," he softly deadpanned in reply, sitting up in his bed.

At this comment, the redhead chuckled and walked up to Kuroko's bed, sitting on the edge next to him to examine how bad the illness was. As he was figuring out how much medical attention Kuroko needed, the phantom was looking at the color of the redhead's sweater.

It wasn't just a normal red. It was like a dark red. Orange red? No, too bright. Blood red? No... Not dark enough. It seemed closely related to the color one would see on a table. What was it called? Ma... Mah...

"Mahogany," Kuroko dreamily smiled to himself at solving the puzzle.

Akashi paused at feeling the light bluenette's forehead, confused as to why he said that. But he just disregarded it, thinking the phantom was a bit delirious from the fever.

"You just have a fever. Just some medicine, lukewarm bath, and soup will cure it in no time." He informed.

"Fever..." Kuroko solemnly repeated, the only thing he heard out of all that mumbo jumbo Akashi spouted out.

"It's alright, Tetsuya. I will take care of you," the redhead smiled softly.

Hearing his sudden proclamation, the light bluenette teared up.

"Thank you," he quietly sobbed, grabbing on to the former captain's sweater.

At this, Akashi merely wrapped his arms around him and patted his head comfortingly.

"No need to thank me, Tetsuya. I will always be there for you." He lightly kissed the top of his forehead as a silent promise.

* * *

After giving Kuroko some medicine and a warm bath, Akashi handed him a bowl of steaming hot soup.

"But I hate tofu soup, Akashi-kun." The light bluenette pouted, crossing his arms childishly.

"And I love it." The redhead retorted teasingly.

"You're not the one eating it, though."

"So? I can taste it vicariously through you eating it."

"That's stupid." Kuroko blandly stated.

"Of course it is. Now, eat up." The heterochromatic scooped a spoonful of soup and gently blew on it, holding it towards the phantom's lips.

Still pouting at the redhead, Kuroko begrudgingly took the bite and chewed on the small piece of tofu. As he was chewing on the spongy cube, the light bluenette began to think.

"Say, Akashi-kun," he prompted after swallowing.

"Hmm?" The redhead scooped another spoonful and fed it to him.

"Back in middle school, why were you acting like such a creep sometimes?" He asked after swallowing the second bite.

"... I don't know what you're talking about," Akashi quickly replied, forcing another spoonful into the phantom's mouth.

Seeing the unexpected reaction from his former captain, he pieced two and two together and finally reached a conclusion.

"Did you... perhaps... like me and that was your way of getting my attention, Akashi-kun?" He looked up at the speechless redhead.

"What? No, I was just... testing out a social experiment...?" He tried to persuade futilely, attempting to feed the phantom with another spoonful of soup.

Kuroko lowered Akashi's arm holding the spoon and chuckled, amusement in his eyes.

Alright," the redhead put the spoon back in the bowl and placed it down on the nightstand, "I confess: I like you. Happy now?"

"Quite." The phantom smiled brightly, holding one of Akashi's hands. "So, why that method?"

"My father... may have... forgotten to tell one of my tutors to teach me how to socialize with people I like..." The heterochromatic confessed, squeezing Kuroko's hand slightly in embarrassment.

"I see." The shorter of the two nodded.

"So..." Akashi looked at him expectantly.

"So what?" The other tilted his head in question.

"Do you like me?"

At the uncertainty in the fearsome captain of the Generation of Miracles' voice, Kuroko laughed softy.

"Of course, Bakashi-kun."

* * *

**A/N: **Thank you for reading.


End file.
